February 2023, Vol. 42, No. 2

What is the Point of My Life?

[347 words] Most people, at some point, have wondered about their purpose in life. Whether due to their environment, or due to things that happen (or don’t happen) to them, they begin to doubt their own worth. Job expressed these sorts of doubt when he wished that he had never been born (Job 10:18-19). In…

A Christian Needs a Super Bowl Discipline

[156 words] Today is Superbowl Sunday. As I thought about “The Big Game,” I remembered something that Coach Tom Landry once said. According to the former Dallas Cowboy, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.”…

J. Edgar Hoover and the Church of Christ

[276 words] In a recent gospel meeting, this writer was privileged to meet a dentist and his wife who informed him of an inquiry they had made of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation several decades ago. This couple was very active in a mainline denominational church when they began to notice the…

A 3×4 Fence

[165 words] A person might as well put his shoulder to the burning sun and seek to stop it on its flaming course as to seek to destroy and stop the circulation of the Word of God. The Bible is like the Irishman who had trouble with his neighbor knocking his fence over. He built…

The Best Ruined Trips

[311 words] Harry Vardon was golf’s first superstar. The British golfer had become a cornerstone of golf popularity in the United States after an American tour in 1900 that ended with him winning the U.S. Open. In 1912 he was planning a return tour to America after overcoming tuberculosis. He was to arrive to huge…

Let’s Go Fishing

[353 words] Have you ever wondered why fishing is mentioned so often in the four gospel accounts of the New Testament? Could it be that the activity of fishing is one that most people can relate to in one way or another? Even if you’ve never fished in your life, you have a general idea…

One Last Chance

[191 words] A man never opened the car door for his wife or any other woman. He felt it was a sissy, Emily Post kind of thing to do. “Besides,” he was fond of saying, “she doesn’t have two broken arms.” After many years of marriage, his wife died and he was heartbroken because he…

A Great Challenge to Christians

[189 words] Our challenge in this life is to make a positive difference for the Lord while we are on earth. The Bible clearly teaches us that serving God is vitally important (Matthew 22:37-40). Our main purpose is not working, hunting, texting, or hanging out with friends. Instead our purpose is that of serving God…

Keep Praising God!

[394 words] The town of Antioch on the Mediterranean Sea was an early center of Christian ministry. This was the church that sponsored Paul and His pioneering outreach to the Gentiles. During the third century, the beloved Christian Babylas, was martyred. His body was buried in a grove by the Orontes River. His burial place…

The ‘One Another’s’

[257 words] Take your Bible app and search the New Testament for “one another,” mine returned 89 results. The first passage to note is John 13:34 where Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” As you begin…

What You Missed

[203 words] It is sad but true that a large percentage of the people who come to worship on Sunday morning do not come back on Sunday night or Wednesday night. Also, many wait until after Bible class is over Sunday morning before gathering together. We could talk about the sin of forsaking the assembling…

A Tale of Two Women

[214 words] On July 24, 2019, Police in Chattanooga, Tennessee, charged a woman with murder. This 29-year-old was abusing illegal drugs which resulted in the premature delivery and death of her twin daughters. According to the police, this mother was being charged with murder, aggravated child abuse or neglect and viable fetus as a victim.…

What Nebuchadnezzar Teaches Us About God

[243 words] Nebuchadnezzar was one of the most influential foreign kings in the biblical record. In world history, he was known as one of the greatest kings to ever live. Holy Scripture speaks of him in human terms as the “king of kings” (Dan. 2:37; 4:1; Ezek. 26:7). He is known to us as a…

America Still Needs God

[281 words] You are no doubt all too aware of America’s continuing moral decline. The evidence is both overwhelming and indisputable. You may be unaware, though, just how far and how swiftly we have slipped. William Bennett has recently released, through the auspices of the Heritage Foundation, “The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators,” a statistical…

The Christian and ‘Presents’

[177 words] Concerning others, Christians should be present and be a present. Let me explain. Webster’s defines “present” as: “being in view or at hand.” The same resource also gives another definition of “present” as “something presented: gift.” So concerning others, Christians should be present (in their company) and be a present (a blessing to…

The Church is Important

[389 words] I wonder if the church is as important to us today as it was to the Christians in the first century? There’s an old saying that states something like: “Don’t let the urgent overtake the important.” There are a lot of urgent matters in the world today, but we must not let them…

The Autobiography of Jesus

[415 words] The closest Jesus came to writing a book while on earth was when He stooped in the presence of the sinful woman’s accusers and scratched something in the dirt (John 8:6, 8). He was many things while on earth, but a writer was not one of them. That changed when Jesus returned to…

The Fortune of Family

[388 words] One of the most valuable things that God has given us is the concept of the family. Think about it – before God brought forth the societal governmental system, He gave the family. Before God established His church on the earth, He consecrated the family. After creating the heavens and the earth, God…

Lessons from the Eunuch, Part 1 of 5

[86 words] You can be sincere, and still be lost! The eunuch was a worshiper of God (Acts 8:27). He was a studier of God’s word (Acts 8:28). And yet, God still found it necessary to send the evangelist Philip to him to teach him how to be saved (Acts 8:26,29). Philip “preached Jesus” to…

Careful Words

[26 words] I’m careful of the words I sayTo keep them soft and sweet;I’ll never know from day to dayWhich ones I’ll have to eat…. This content is for Annual and Lifetime Members only! Please log in or register to use our free church bulletin resources, or start an Annual Membership and get bulletin articles…

Biblical Baptism

[93 words] Biblical Baptism must have… The right candidate: a penitent believer (Acts 2:38; 8:36). The right purpose: salvation, forgiveness (Mark 16:16). The right method: immersion (Acts 8:38; Romans 6:1-4). The right Authority: into the name of Father, the son, the Holy spirit (Matthew 28:19). Some have the right authority and purpose, but miss the…

How Did You Get That?

[115 words] A little girl once asked her mother, who had a withered hand, how it came to be deformed. She replied that it had occurred when she had rescued that little girl from a fire in her crib. “It was for you, my child,” she said, “that this poor hand suffered.” To some it…

My Daddy Prays for Me

[95 words] When Daddy prays, the house gets still;His voice is slow and deep.We shut our eyes; the clock ticks loud.So quiet we must keep. When Daddy prays, he doesn’t useThose words the preacher does.He prays for lots of different things,But mostly he prays for us. His prayer gets awful long sometimes,And hard to understand.So…

Thanks to God for My Redeemer

[146 words] Thanks to God for my Redeemer,Thanks for all Thou dost provide!Thanks for times now but a mem’ry,Thanks for Jesus by my side! Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,Thanks for dark and stormy fall!Thanks for tears by now forgotten,Thanks for peace within my soul! Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,Thanks for what Thou dost…

Definition of a Christian

[117 words] He has a mind and knows it.He has a will and shows it.He sees the way and goes it.He draws the line and toes it. He has a chance and takes it.A friendly hand, he shakes it.A rule, he never breaks it.If there’s not time, he makes it. He loves the truth, stands…

A Living, Bright Reality

[32 words] Lord Jesus, make Thyself to meA living, bright reality;More present to faith’s vision keenThan any outward object seen;More dear, more intimately nighThan e’en the sweetest earthly tie…. This content is for Annual and Lifetime Members only! Please log in or register to use our free church bulletin resources, or start an Annual Membership…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 19:1-10

[101 words] The voice John heard in heaven was of a great __. “For __ and __ are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication…” The voice of the great multitude had the sound of many __ and of mighty __. “Let us be glad and…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 19:11-16

[68 words] What color was the horse mentioned in verse 11? “And He who sat on him was called __ and __, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” True or False: His eyes were like a chunk of ice. “He was clothed with a robe dipped in __, and His name is called…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 19:17-21

[65 words] “Then I saw an angel standing in the __; and he cried with a __ voice…” Who was the angel speaking to? “And I saw the __, the __ of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.” The beast…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 20:1-6

[102 words] The angel had the __ to the bottomless pit and a great __. “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the __ and __, and bound him for a thousand years…” “And I saw __, and they sat on them, and __ was committed to them.” “Then I…

Quotes and Sayings (February 2023)

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” — Oscar Wilde “When you love someone, you love the whole person as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be.” — Leo Tolstoy “One words frees us of all the…

On the Lighter Side (February 2023)

That Explains It A Scottish mother visits her son in his New York City apartment and asks, “How do you find the Americans, Donald?” “Mother,” says Donald, “they’re such noisy people. One neighbor won’t stop banging his head against the wall, while the other screams and screams all night long.” “Oh, Donald! How do you…